Method and apparatus for identifying a single user requesting conflicting content and resolving said conflict

Abstract

Systems and methods for automatically determining when a single party is playing or requesting conflicting content on two different devices, and resolving the conflict accordingly. Systems automatically identify when a single user is playing back a content stream on one device, then requests another content stream on another device. If the two content streams conflict, the conflict is automatically resolved in a number of ways, including by automatically pausing or redirecting one of the content streams. Conflict identification may also be carried out with the assistance of an added state flag that indicates a device or stream that has audio priority in a conflict. Thus, for example, when one user requests two conflicting content streams, and only one stream is associated with the conditional audio enabled flag, audio of the flagged stream may be played, while the other stream is muted.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 detecting a first playing operation of a first content item on a first device; 
 determining a first content item type of the first content item; 
 detecting a second playing operation of a second content item on a second device in a vicinity of first device; 
 determining a second content item type associated with the second content item; 
 identifying a conflict resolution action based on a combination of the first content item type and the second content item type; and 
 modifying at least one of the first playing operation and the second playing operation using the identified a conflict resolution action. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to determining either the first content item type or the second content item type is associated with only audio content, assigning priority to one of the first content item or the second content item that is associated with only audio content; and 
 pausing one of the first content item or second content item that is not assigned priority. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining an active user playing the first content item on the first device, 
 determining the device identifier associated with the first device; and 
 if only one of the active user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determining that the only one user identifier is associated with the active user. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the determining an active user playing a first content item on a first device further comprises:
 if more than one of the user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determining the user identifier associated with the user according to a comparison of the content of the first content item to the stored user profiles associated with the more than one of the user identifiers. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the determining whether the active user initiated the request for the second content item further comprises:
 determining the device identifier associated with the second device; and 
 if only one of the user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determining that the only one user identifier is associated with the active user. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the determining whether the active user initiated the request for the second content item further comprises:
 if more than one of the user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determining the user identifier associated with the active user according to a comparison of the content of the second content item to the stored user profiles associated with the more than one of the user identifiers. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing user identifiers each associated with a different user; 
 storing device identifiers each associated with a different content playback device and with one or more of the user identifiers, the first device and the second device each being one of the content playback devices; 
 storing account identifiers each associated with a user identifier and maintained for access to content stored by a content provider; and 
 storing user profiles each associated with one of the user identifiers. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 determining the account identifier associated with the request for the second content item; 
 determining the user identifier associated with the determined account identifier; 
 determining the user profile associated with the determined user identifier; 
 comparing the content of the second content item to the determined user profile to determine whether the content of the second content item matches a content profile of the determined user profile; and 
 if the content of the second content item does not match the content profile, determining that the conflict does not exist. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 upon determining that neither the first device nor the second device, and neither the first content item nor the second content item, are flagged as having the audio priority flag, pausing playback of the first content item on the first device and playing back the second content item on the second device. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 designating the respective first and second content items, or the respective first and second devices, as having the audio priority flag if the respective first and second content items comprise the audio but not the video. 
 
     
     
       11. A system comprising:
 a communication port; 
 a memory storing instructions; and 
 control circuitry communicably coupled to the memory and the communication port and configured to execute the instructions to:
 detect a first playing operation of a first content item on a first device; 
 determine a first content item type of the first content item; 
 detect a second playing operation of a second content item on a second device in a vicinity of first device; 
 determine a second content item type associated with the second content item; 
 identify a conflict resolution action based on a combination of the first content item type and the second content item type; and 
 modify at least one of the first playing operation and the second playing operation using the identified a conflict resolution action. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 in response to determining either the first content item type or the second content item type is associated with only audio content, assign priority to one of the first content item or the second content item that is associated with only audio content; and 
 pause one of the first content item or second content item that is not assigned priority. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 determine an active user playing the first content item on the first device, 
 determine the device identifier associated with the first device; and 
 if only one of the active user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determine that the only one user identifier is associated with the active user. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the control circuitry configured to determine an active user playing a first content item on a first device is further configured to:
 if more than one of the user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determine the user identifier associated with the user according to a comparison of the content of the first content item to the stored user profiles associated with the more than one of the user identifiers. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the control circuitry configured to determine whether the active user initiated the request for the second content item is further configured to:
 determine the device identifier associated with the second device; and 
 if only one of the user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determine that the only one user identifier is associated with the active user. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry configured to determine whether the active user initiated the request for the second content item is further configured to:
 if more than one of the user identifiers is associated with the determined device identifier, determine the user identifier associated with the active user according to a comparison of the content of the second content item to the stored user profiles associated with the more than one of the user identifiers. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 store user identifiers each associated with a different user; 
 store device identifiers each associated with a different content playback device and with one or more of the user identifiers, the first device and the second device each being one of the content playback devices; 
 store account identifiers each associated with a user identifier and maintained for access to content stored by a content provider; and 
 store user profiles each associated with one of the user identifiers. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 determine the account identifier associated with the request for the second content item; 
 determine the user identifier associated with the determined account identifier; 
 determine the user profile associated with the determined user identifier; 
 compare the content of the second content item to the determined user profile to determine whether the content of the second content item matches a content profile of the determined user profile; and 
 if the content of the second content item does not match the content profile, determine that the conflict does not exist. 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 upon determining that neither the first device nor the second device, and neither the first content item nor the second content item, are flagged as having the audio priority flag, pause playback of the first content item on the first device and playing back the second content item on the second device. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 designate the respective first and second content items, or the respective first and second devices, as having the audio priority flag if the respective first and second content items comprise the audio but not the video.